February

Lawyers Journal

HOD takes up Child Support Guidelines review process, USA Patriot Act

February 2002

The Massachusetts Bar Association House of Delegates took action on family-law issues and reports brought before them by the Presidential Task Force on the Preservation of Rights, Liberties and Access to Justice at their Jan. 24 meeting, held during the MBA Annual Conference at the Boston Marriott Copley Place Hotel.

• elect the following MBA members to the 2001-2002 Nominating Committee: Edward P. Ryan Jr. (chair), Jeffrey L. McCormick, Camille F. Sarrouf, William DiMento, Elaine M. Epstein, Alice E. Richmond and Kenneth J. Vacovec;
• approve publication of the Ethics Committee's proposed opinion 2002-1;
• approve the minutes of Nov. 15, 2001 and Nov. 26, 2001 House of Delegates meetings;
• oppose House bill #3571, an act relative to improving the Child Support Guidelines review process;
• support House bill #4813, an act relative to the health insurance of children of divorced parents;
• approve a resolution asking the Supreme Judicial Court to conduct a study of issues raised by allowing file information from the court available on the Internet;
• approve the Presidential Task Force on the Preservation of Rights, Liberties and Access to Justice's report on the Military Order of Nov. 13, 2001, to adopt the recommendations of the task force with regard to military tribunals and to forward the report to the appropriate federal legislators and officers as amended, including addition of number 11 to the recommendation to conduct proceedings to preserve the right to file a writ of habeas corpus;
• approve the task force's report on H.R. 3210, the Terrorism Risk Protection Act, to adopt the recommendations of the task force and to forward the report to the appropriate federal legislators and officers; and
• approve the task force's report on the USA Patriot Act (PL-107-56, H.R. 3126), to adopt the recommendations of the task force and to forward the report to the appropriate federal legislators and officers.
For information on any of the above-proposed legislation, including copies of bills, call Lee Iannacchino, legislative coordinator at (617) 338-0692. For any other House of Delegates questions, call Jean Stevens, executive assistant at (617) 338-0641.